The Return
by Grand Master Darkstorm
Summary: Lori Weston returned back east after her dismissal from Five-0, she soon finds herself swept up in a case that brings her to the edge of her seat, when things take a turn for the worst, she must team with with the FBI's major crimes department and the one person she didn't want to see anymore, her ex-fiancée. OC/Lori (ON HOLD)
1. Chapter 1: The return

**Okay, so my second Five-0 story written, this time it's going to focus on Lori, please, Im begging you guys, if your not a fan of Lori, then please, don't leave a comment, I know she wasn't the most popular character on the show when she was on, but I'm going to be combining both how she was on the show with a bit of OOC so maybe she will be better liked.**

**Anyway, this story is based off a few of the background clues we were given about Lori during the course of season 2 so I tried to capture it as best as I could. Hopefully you guys enjoy!**

_En route to JFK airport_

_New York_

_February, 2012_

Lori Weston glanced out the window, it hardly felt real, she was going home, six months ago she was getting a going away party from her team in Homeland Security, it was difficult for her to leave, but what she thought was the leader of Governor Denning's defense liaison was an opportunity of a lifetime and a major career decision, but she didn't expect what happened, getting blindsided by Denning, assigned to work for his major crimes task force called Five-0, only to then dive onto the knife for the team and allow herself to lose her job for her friends, something she would have never done before she joined them.

She missed them and it was only forty-eight hours since she left and she already regretted her decision, sure, there would be the few things she would miss, movie night with Max was definitely one of them, a smile spread on her face as she remembered the look on Steve and Danny's face when she waited for Max at headquarters, though she originally thought they were going, the confused look when she wore that dress and permed her hair, something she learned never to do again, she loosened up when she hung out with Max, though there was one or two times Steve actually managed to come with her.

Danny reminded her a lot of home, they were both easterners who came out to Oahu, but while she was from New York, he was from Jersey, they were practically neighbors and they got along pretty well while on a case, something she never thought she would do was fit in, compared to some of their other friends, she always felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb.

Then there was him, Commander Steven McGarrett, she couldn't believe she honestly fell for him, she hated herself for even telling him, but what other choice did she have? It was going to gnaw at her unless she was honest, she didn't want any secrets between them, but how could she fall for him, even with him dating someone like Catherine Rollins, a name she passed over a few times when she studied his profile when they first met back in September, and from what everyone told her, Rollins was his girlfriend, the feeling she had when she saw Steve walk to Catherine in his office, she just couldn't shake it, her pulse skyrocketing through the roof, her heart rate went up, she could feel her palms begin to sweat and she felt extremely jealous about the way she talked to him, the way they kissed.

All the time they spent together, she couldn't understand what Steve saw in Catherine, but she could understand, it seemed almost impossible for them to be together, as much as she wanted to, she lost her job, and all she had to do was just stay with him, but she decided against it, something was drawing her back home.

Not that she had much to worry about, in her younger days; she used to turn a lot of heads, and still did even in her later years, though no one was like him. It was funny, she hadn't thought about him in almost five years, they were college kids, they were young and in love, though she was the one who bailed out on the wedding, she knew her parents didn't like it, and neither did his parents, but it was one thing she couldn't do, not that she didn't love him, God, how much she did.

They were old childhood friends, practically grew up together, she could remember when they were kids, they're parents vacationed in Atlantic City a lot, they always planned it out, though the day she realized she had feelings for him happened when they were nine years old. Lori had swam out, had been taken by the undertow, as she felt herself begin to drown, she felt him pull her back up, swim back to shore and with the help of a nearby lifeguard, bring her back from unconsciousness, it wasn't his actions that made her love him, it was what he said when they were sitting on the beach that night eating some ice cream while their parents were off gambling at the casinos.

"_I'm going to marry you Lori, and when I do, I'll be able to protect you!"_

He had such a cheesy grin on his face when he said it, she just replied with a smile and hit his nose with some of her chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream. They had been closer after that, high school, those were rough years for her, she just had a hard time remembering whenever she was on the job, then college at Penn State, those were the best years she had, then the adult years following it were rough, he was gone by that point and she didn't have many outlets aside from her family who moved to PA to get away from the big city and her friends from school and work had made the last five years tolerable.

"_We are now descending into JFK international airport, please be ready to depart." _

As the plane landed, Lori quickly snapped out of her thoughts, the wheels let down and the plane pulled into the terminal connector, she quickly grabbed her duffle bag from above her head and walked out with the other passengers.

* * *

She was soon met by many faces of people waiting in line for the planes, people who were meeting her fellow passengers and those who were sitting at the bar getting drunk because their planes were delayed. She was used to this, landing in a terminal and expecting no one to greet her, she was used to being alone.

"Well, well, someone has been working on her tan line."

Lori was soon met with a man about five years her senior, his cream colored skin set him apart, his black hair was freshly shaved, he wore a black suit with a white shirt and a black tie, she forgot, states wore ties, Hawaii didn't.

"Donovan? What are you doing here?" Lori smiled as the old friends embraced

As they parted, they walked over to the turnaround carrier for suitcases that were on the planes and Donovan grabbed the one with Lori's nametag on it.

Donovan Green had been her partner in Homeland security for years, the pair met when she left her job with the Bureau and they connected fast, he was divorced, two kids he hardly ever saw and was just a joy to be around.

"I figured you would need someone to come and get you, besides, Governor McKnight needs to see you."

"How did the Governor know I was coming back so fast?" She asked as they walked to the parking lot

"I informed him of your arrival, he's been worried about something bad, when I told him, and he demanded I escorted you to his office as soon as possible."

"So your kidnapping me now are you Don?" Lori smiled playfully and placed a hand on her hip

"Only if you want me to Agent Weston." He replied unlocking his Chevy escalade and sliding Lori's suitcase into his trunk "Not to be macho, but I'm driving."

Lori shook her head "I'm getting shotgun then."

* * *

_Hauppauge Industrial Park_

_Long Island_

"Don't let them get away!" He could hear the voice yell

For him, this was an everyday part of the job, though chasing down gang members in the middle of Long Island wasn't part of what he had planned, he had every intention of busting a drug deal between two rival gangs, not take part in capturing them both.

The two gangs in particular, the Russian and Irish mobs usually never did business with each other, unless it was a drug deal or a weapons deal, the Russians went down easy, now it was down to the Irish. It was a gang of four, men in their early thirties, he watched as three were down, it was down to him and his boss, the pair had kept up pretty well so far, shipping crates were used for cover as they watched their target, a man named Jaden hide behind cover, the two men did the same.

"Mason, you know what to do."

The young man known as Mason nodded and drew his glock from his belt and waited, his boss, Hudson was waiting on his right, he nodded in response as both men moved forward, the shipping crates they were in felt like a maze, perfect places for cover and a hiding spot, the scent of salt air still penetrated Mason's nostrils.

They moved slowly, checking both sides of him, left then right, finally he found his target. Jaden had sprung out of hiding and fired two shots from his pistol, Hudson took them both as he ran in front of Mason, retaliating, the younger man fired two shots in retaliation, one in the shoulder the other in the ribcage, it wouldn't kill him, just injure him.

Jaden's body began to roll as his back hit the crate behind him, Mason moved quickly and took the pistol out of his foe's hand and slapped a pair of cuffs on his wrists. Then he turned back to Hudson, he had fallen to the floor, blood dripping from two chest shots, it wouldn't kill him.

"You okay old man?" Mason asked running over and tending to the injures as he pulled out his phone

"Just get me out of here." Hudson breathed as he went out

"This is Agent Mason, I need a medical team at Hauppauge shipping district right away." He spoke quickly into his cell phone; he then turned back to Hudson "How bad is it?"

"Nothing too bad, just a flesh wound." Hudson extended a hand "help me up."

Mason nodded and grabbed the senior agent's hand, pulling him up and wrapping an arm around his shoulders as he escorted him out of the maze of crates.

* * *

Lori sat patiently in the waiting lobby of the Governor's office in Albany, her nerves running high, she didn't know what to expect, obviously what happened in Oahu was going to be brought up, Denning obviously told McKnight what happened and she knew this whole Russian Embassy incident was going to be brought up.

Though every time she thought of her last case, she thought of the final confrontation with Steve in his office following her dismissal, she always felt the tears building in her eyes, it was difficult to leave, she didn't want to leave at all, if she could have worked it she would have stayed with him and the rest of Five-0, but she just knew the Governor would have made things difficult. She leaned forward and rubbed her hands together, her body feeling colder than usual, one thing she forgot about back east, it was colder in February then it was in Hawaii.

"Hey, you okay kid?" Donovan asked

Lori smirked at Donovan "Yeah, I'm good, just thinking."

"Thinking about Oahu right?" Donovan asked "Anyone in particular?"

She wanted to lie, but Don was a man who could see past "An old friend of mine, he was on the task force I was on."

"Ah, Five-0." Don smiled "You loved him?"

Lori's head snapped up at that comment, did she love him? "No, I just had feelings for him."

"Well, no one like him right?"

She couldn't help but smile at some of the memories of him, the man Don was speaking of, her ex-fiancée, it was funny to her, for years since the end of the marriage plans, she didn't think too much of him, hell, she didn't even know where he was, the last time Lori saw him, they had graduated from college at Penn State, but as she began to have growing feelings for McGarrett, she began to think about him and how much Steve and he were alike.

"Agents Green and Weston." The secretary, Jessica spoke from the other side of her computer "The Governor is ready to see you."

Both agents nodded and followed Jessica down the hall, a few doors was opened, some were closed with people in meeting with a direct view through the little window in the door. The final door at the end of the hall was opened to a wide brown desk a window on both sidewalls and a large bookshelf along the back wall.

"Governor, Agents Weston and Green from homeland security." Jessica informed

Charles McKnight was a man in his early fifties, with slicked back black hair with graying hair on his temples; he was a bit overweight as his stomach hung over his belt, he was also shorter than the two agents being only five foot four. "Agents, welcome, have a seat."

Lori felt her palms begin to sweat, she knew what was coming, and it was just a matter of time.

"First and foremost." He turned to Lori "I'm terribly sorry things didn't work out in Oahu Agent Weston. I know when you came to my office you were eager for the transfer."

"Thank you sir." Lori replied

"Don't be so nervous Agent Weston; I was informed of what happened on Valentine's Day with the Russian embassy, but at least you and Five-0 solved the case." McKnight reassured

She took a sigh of relief as she leaned back in her chair; she felt the tension of the last twenty minutes leaving.

"So why did you call us here Governor?" Donovan asked

"Simple." McKnight leaned forward and cupped his hands together on the center of his desk "I'm forming a federal joint police and anti-terrorism task force consisting of members of the NYPD and several organizations, you two are the last known members we need and Agent Weston," he turned to Lori "I want you to lead this operation."

Lori's green eyes went wide as she looked at the Governor "You…you want me to lead?"

"Yes, you're qualified; work with the FBI and Homeland Security, let alone your work with Five-0 and the recommendation from your previous post."

"What recommendation?"

"The recommendation that was emailed to me yesterday from…" McKnight entered into his email and opened it "Commander Steven McGarrett."

"Steven McGarrett?"

"Yes," McKnight took the glasses from his desk and placed them in front of his eyes _"Agent Lori Weston is a dedicated, hard worker, someone who puts her heart into everything she does. Several times we worked together, I saw the dedication she puts into it, the emotional worry she has for the victims of the crimes and the families of the victims. I worked with Agent Weston a lot and she shows the qualities needed to do what is necessary to lead. I highly recommend her for this position."_

Lori smiled softly to herself as Donovan smiled at her, she couldn't believe every nice thing Steve said about her, she would have to contact him and thank him personally for it.

"So, will you two take it?" McKnight asked

"Yes." Donovan replied

Lori nodded "I'd be honored Governor."

"Good, because you two have a case already." McKnight took a file from his right and handed it to Lori "The case involves the disappearance of a nineteen year old, female, college student from Buffalo State University. She's been missing for twelve hours and amber alerts have been set."

"Do we have any equipment and team?"

"Yes." McKnight pulled a business card from his desk "This is the address of the building you two will be working at."

"Any leads Governor?" Lori asked

"None so far, the parents are willing to help you anyway they can." McKnight replied "Their contact information is located within the case file."

They nodded and both left, Lori still had a smile on her face, she just couldn't believe things were picking up and they didn't go as badly as she previously anticipated.

* * *

_Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center_

_Brooklyn_

"Can I help you sir?" The nurse asked

"Special Agent William Mason, one of my people, Nathan Hudson was brought here with two gunshot wounds." Mason held up his identification

"Oh yes, Mister Hudson has been asking for you, follow me please."

The nurse's nametag read _Peg,_ something he would have to remember as he was escorted through busy hallways of doctors, nurses and patients moving until they approached a door on the first floor.

"He's in here." Peg motioned

Mason nodded and opened the door, inside, Hudson was lying on the bed which was position so it was like a chair, and an IV drip was attached to his arm as he was flipping through the channels on the TV, he could only smile as the two men glanced at each other.

"Goddamn it." Hudson said as Mason walked toward the bed "This is the worst kind of torture, nothing to do but watch bad basic cable."

Mason didn't say another word as he pulled the chair toward Hudson's right side. "It only proves you're not one for sitting around Ice Cube."

Hudson laughed, his normally tanned skin was pale and he just looked tired and in pain. Mason felt sorry, Hudson trained him, taught him everything he knew about being an Agent, hell, he was like a big brother; he just hated seeing Hudson like this.

He could tell something was wrong "What's on your mind Mister Shades?"

Hudson sighed and pulled his cellphone from the table and handed it to Mason "Jenny wants me to leave New York."

"What? Why?"

"Why else? Because of the crap I've been put through, according to Jenny I'm getting too old for it and I need to be a part of the kid's lives."

"So….does this mean you're leaving?"

"Well I need to get it approved by the Director, but if I can, then yes." Hudson leaned back "Which is the other reason why I called you here, I want you to lead the team from here."

Mason almost chocked "Me, you want me to lead it?"

"Why not? I taught you a lot, you're a good agent, it's not like you have anything holding you back right?"

Mason looked out the window "Of course not Hudson…not anymore."

**If you made it this far, then I do appreciate you taking the time to read this, as I said, I know Lori Weston isn't very popular, but I did like her character and I thought there was alot of potential. I know also I did New York for both stories, but I like New York because you do alot of angles with it and it still is a good story. I just hope everyone enjoyed it, if you have any suggestions on how to improve it then please leave it as part of your review!**


	2. Chapter 2: Who she is

**I'm so sorry about not updating this sooner, but I have some good reasons for why I didn't.** **First of all, this semster of college has been kicking my butt and really stressed me out, so nothing has gotten done for any of my stories aside from a one shot I did on Valentine's Day. Personal problems once again plague my life and also, the biggest one was that I didnt know how well this story was going to be liked and I was proven wrong, Ive only gotten a hundred people for the first chapter, but I'm happy with that, just so long as people are reading, I don't care if people like Lori or not, I for one thought she was a good addition, they needed to do more with her for season 2 maybe establish herself aside from being a love interest for McGarrett, if they would have did that, she would have done fine. But you can only work with the hand your given and I'm rambling, anyway, enjoy, comments as always and don't worry, three will be out faster then you think.**

_Task Force 275 base_

_New York City_

_May, 2012_

Lori blinked herself awake again; she had been sitting at her computer for what felt like days, running through various leads, past case files and nothing made sense on this new one. The case was a simple enough, just a disappearance of a college girl, twenty-one years old, disappeared after she was at the bar in Queens with her friends.

The door to her office was knocked on, lifting her head from her computer, Donovan stood on the other side and opened it "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just exhausted." Lori replied, gently rubbed her temples

"Why don't you go back to your apartment? Call it a night, we can take it over."

"No, no, besides, I think I'm onto something."

"Alright, the guys are waiting." Donovan left the door open as he and Lori went back to the center

The building they were given was equipped a lot like Five-0's headquarters, Lori requested it herself, smart table was situated in the center of the room, with three screens on the right side, the building was actually given to them by the FBI as a means to be as efficient as anyone else on the force.

The team consisted of five total members, Donovan, herself, Agent Jeff Morrison, an old friend of Lori's from her early career in Washington DC; along with them were two members of the NYPD, Detective Benjamin Davidson and Officer Charles Griffin, Benjamin was the younger of the two, but Griffin had the experience.

"Gentlemen, we got a hit." Donovan gathered everyone around

Jeff stood close to Lori as she began to type away, she could always remember watching Steve and the other members of Five-0 operating this type of machine with precision and accuracy, and she just had to keep telling herself that she could do it.

"Okay, so a few months ago, the FBI's CID division led by Nathan Hudson took down a strike team from the Bulgarian mafia, they were present where our victim disappeared from, based on what I can tell, and it seems they're linked."

"Is the FBI talking?" Benjamin asked

"No, they're unwilling to talk right now due to the security of their investigation." Lori replied as she slid her fingers along the screen and brought up a full map of New York, a blinking red was highlighted "We traced them to Finger Lakes National Park, about ten miles into the woods."

"That's a lot of ground to cover Weston." Charles retorted "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"I know what I'm doing Charles, I wasn't put in charge because I'm a girl." Lori glared

"Sorry ma'am didn't mean to make you angry with the aneurism face." Griffin backed away "I'll link with the NYPD, get a team out there."

As everyone left, it was down to Donovan, Lori and Jeff, Lori sighed as she rubbed her temples, she hated being tough, but more than once she had to deal with ignorant people and people who refused to listen to her, it was never the case with Five-0, everyone there valued her opinion, she never even thanked Steve for getting her this job, she'd have to rectify that very soon.

"We'll coordinate here Lori; let us know when you ready." Jeff replied "Glad to be working with you again."

"You two Jeff."

* * *

Lori sat at her desk again, a few pictures of her family and friends were on her desk, the back wall held the certificate she along with the members of Five-0 took down a major drug bust, though the drugs were later blown up in a car bombing, she still felt great breaking them down.

Though one photo caught her eye which she kept on her right side, the photo of Chin's wedding, she always smiled when she saw it, she knew she could never go back, not after everything she said, and did, she just couldn't go back, there was nothing left for her in Oahu and she just needed to go home, she would miss Steve, but she knew what was to expect, what she needed to do.

She turned on her computer and turned on the live chat, she needed to do this. The screen turned to life and Steve McGarrett looked at her from the other side.

"_Well, Lori didn't expect to see you again." _

"You sound surprised." Lori smirked

"_Well, yeah." McGarrett smiled "I didn't expect to. So, how are things back in New York?" _

"Fine, thank you again for the recommendation; I really appreciated what you said."

"_You're welcome," Steve leaned back in his chair "I still feel bad you lost your job because of me." _

"Don't worry about it, in a way, I feel like I kinda belong here…" Lori let her eyes wander from the screen slightly "Especially after what I told you."

"_Uh…oh!" Steve remembered "well…I uh…appreciate your honesty with me." _

"Just figured I'd tell you, not really sure what was going on with you…" Lori realized what she said "you know; relationship wise."

"_Lori, look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Catherine before." Steve sighed "We're trying to see where we're going, if anything, I owe you an apology for leading you on. I mean when we first met, you didn't exactly have the best opinion of me, as I recalled, you were my 'babysitter." _

Both Lori and Steve chuckled at that, looking back, Lori did celebrate the fourth anniversary of her called off wedding with her ex-fiancée, a decision she partially regretted, though she could never see herself as a house wife as his mother suggested she be.

"_So you could understand. Catherine means a lot to me, I'm sorry I couldn't share your feelings for me Lori, I shouldn't have led you on…."_

She could hear voices with who she assumed to be Danny or Chin calling for Steve to get out of his office.

"_Gotta go, duty calls." _

"Right, see you later." She closed the chat down

She didn't even realize it, but she didn't know how long she had been holding her breath, she couldn't understand why she acted like this, she was never like this before.

Her door opened as Donovan stood in the frame "Lori, your needed."

She nodded and as she rubbed her temples, she felt a tear fall down her cheek; she quickly wiped it away and proceeded outside.

* * *

_Finger Lakes National Park_

_Outside Ithaca _

"We've established a perimeter and are just waiting for your signal." Griffin reported

Lori nodded and finished adjusting the straps to her Kevlar vest, she looked around as the police closed off the area with police tape while other members with dogs stood and waited for their signal.

"Okay, listen up! We're looking for anything suspicious, anything that looks like it belongs to the Bulgarians, you find it, call me or Agent Weston. Understood!?" Griffin ordered

"Yes sir!" Lori could hear from the various cops

"Alright, move it out!" Griffin ordered

Lori gathered the team around "Everyone will take a team out, after two clicks, radio in and we'll move from there."

Lori took the northern path, Donovan took the southern while Charles took the east, and Griffin took the left while Jeff remained at the headquarters building keeping them up to date.

She couldn't keep her focus; she knew this was insane, going into the woods hunting down a killer with no other intel other than a supposed location, all she knew was that she had to get this done.

"Hang on we got something!" One of the swat cops yelled raising his rifle

The bushes near their location started to rustle, Lori raised her pistol and took aim, and a man came out of the bushes holding his hands above his head.

"You need to help me!" The man spoke in a Bulgarian accent

The leading swat team member Lieutenant Conrad leaned close to Lori "Looks like one of the Bulgarian mob members, orders Agent Weston?"

"Secure him, I'll call it in."

As she called in the team to her location, Conrad approached the Bulgarian member "Why should we help you?"

"Because I take you to where you cops need to go, you're looking for our base? I can take you to it."

* * *

The area they were taken to was built in bunker entrance with the doors flung open, the metal lock on the ground, its foundation split from the actual lock.

"You want to know what my boss was doing." He pointed to the entrance "Go in there."

Lori glared "You're coming with us."

"Of course." The Bulgarian nodded

"Charlie, Ben, you two are with me." Lori ordered "Donovan, stay out here."

"Yes ma'am." Donovan tapped his earphone and called for back up

Lori jumped first, followed by the Bulgarian mercenary known as Victor, Charles was next followed by Ben.

"Ben, take Victor and head to the right, I'll stay around here, Charles to the right." Lori ordered as she turned her flashlight on

Both men nodded and turned their flashlights on, rifles pointed out, they quickly spread their own separate ways, leaving Lori alone.

As she slowly began to move, dirt crunched under her heels as she looked around at her surroundings, which was basically stone walls and dirt floors.

"_Come on Lori. Keep your head and don't let the obvious throw you off." _

His voice. Why was she thinking about him? It had been years but his words came into her mind, when she first joined the Bureau as a profiler years ago. As she turned a corner, she was met with a bunch of different objects that she couldn't identify, as she walked, her boot hit something, as she bent down and lit up a light generator, she flipped it on and a light came on in the room.

A table was along the back wall, with various pictures on the table itself, a map of New York on the wall, thumb tacks and red string were attached going in various patterns, as she caught a picture of the pictures and map, she then turned behind her and almost screamed.

Blood stained the dirt floor and what appeared to be a barber chair was bolted to the ground, a skeleton was bound by its wrists, as Lori analyzed the body, her earpiece went off.

"_Lori….its Dono…." _Static was on the other line "_Get…out….need…help…." _

"I'm on my way."

Donovan smiled as he helped Lori out of the bunker and to her feet "So, what did you need Don?"

"Over here."

As the pair began to walk, she tapped her earphone and was about to tell the others to get out when an explosion ruptured the bunker, sending a fire out and knocking Lori and Donovan to their ground, they rolled until Donovan slammed into a nearby tree hard.

As Lori rolled on the ground, her body made impact on the ground a few feet away, her head hit a rock, her vision began to grow blurry as voices began to fill her ears.

Two police officers approached her "Ma'am, are you okay?"

"Ma…Mason?" She asked before blacking out


	3. Chapter 3: What drives him?

_Mason Apartment_

_Albany _

His day always starts the same way, up at six in the morning, work out for a bit, back by eight for breakfast then off to work for the rest of the day. It had been this way for a long time, at least since he started working in D.C. five years ago.

As he started walking down the stairs of his loft stairs heading toward the central area, he could hear noise coming from below; his right hand swiftly went to his glock on his belt and took aim as he walked down the stairs pointing toward the couch and his television.

"Freeze!" Bill cried out

An arm rose up from the couch "Hey cousin! 'Bout time you woke up!"

Bill walked around the side of the couch and quickly put his side arm back in his holster. The man on the couch was about five years younger than Bill's senior with sandy blonde hair, brown eyes and wore a white t-shirt with dark blue basketball shorts.

"Jasper, I told you that key was for emergencies only." Bill sighed as he sat down in the arm chair

"Well, this is an emergency Bill." Jasper sighed and rolled his eyes "The wedding got called off."

"What? What happened?"

"What else happened? I caught Michael with a woman…of all people to cheat on me with, a woman!?"

Bill never forgot when Jasper finally came out of the closet, he was a sophomore in college and Jasper was a freshman in high school, Jasper's mom Silvia wasn't all too happy about it, but when she met Michael, a young man from San Francisco, she quickly warmed up to the thought, to a point anyway.

"I'm sorry Jasper," Bill looked at the table in front of the couch, various boxes of Chinese food on the table with plates, chop sticks, forks and knives were all over the place "did you eat my leftover Chinese?"

"It helped my depression; I figured you'd want to help me out Bill?"

"I do…I…" his phone began to ring and quickly stood "Agent Mason…yes sir, right, okay, I'll be there in twenty." He turned his phone off "I gotta go, the governor wants to meet with me."

"Good luck cousin! After all that political crap, McKnight needs this one."

Bill looked at his cousin and sighed "Don't eat my refrigerator clean."

As he began to walk, his phone rang, shaking his head, he saw it was the hospital.

"Agent Mason….yes….yes…." as the information was relayed to him "Is she okay…? Okay, glad to hear it, I'll send for a cab."

* * *

Lori opened her eyes slowly, her head was pounding and her vision was blurry, as she came to focus, a man was standing near her, tapping away on a tablet, she knew it wasn't Donovan.

"Agent Weston? Agent Weston can you hear me?" The voice asked

She groaned and tried to sit up, her body fighting against her, the muscles in her hips and arms were screaming pain. The man gently sat her back down gently.

"Agent Weston, you need to relax, the meds we placed you on are just now starting to wear off." The man straightened himself "I'm Doctor Jacobson, I'm the doctor for this wing."

"How…how long have I been out?" Lori asked groggily

"I'd say…." Jacobson checked his watch "a little over fourteen hours, you had a minor concussion and a few areas of bruising, nothing serious enough to keep you here."

"So when can I go?"

"Soon, we sent an alert out to your emergency contact…" he checked his chart over "William Mason?"

Lori's eyes went wide as she felt her stomach churn over with anxiety, she forgot when she and Bill moved in together, they were listed as each other's emergency contact, she never got it changed, of course, not like her parents who still lived back in her home town and her sister Clarisse who was living in Chicago with her husband and son would fly out to New York to make sure her head was doing alright.

"Has he….responded?"

"No, no he hasn't." Jacobson replied "But the Governor's office did contact the hospital, they said if you're able to make it, they would like you to attend a meeting with Governor McKnight."

She groaned, more than likely something to do with what they found in the bunker and her team getting killed, as she began to move, the clothes she wore the night before were neatly folded on the night stand, as she dressed, her jeans were torn and dirtied and her black top had the same effect, several dried blood spots were also present.

Jacobson stepped out and a few second later walked back in with a wheelchair, Lori sighed and climbed into it.

"What became of Agent Donovan?"

Jacobson rolled her out "He's alright, just won't be returning to work very soon, he fractured both of his legs when he made impact in three separate locations, he's going to be prepped for surgery and we'll let you know how it goes."

Lori sighed as she was moved outside the hospital, she half expected Bill wouldn't show up and she was right, he didn't but there was a cab parked out front.

"I got a call for an Agent Lori Weston?"

Lori stood weak kneed "That's me." She shook the doctor's hand and climbed into the cab

* * *

Bill continued to sit in the couch in the governor's building, his mind had been running around in every direction since he started driving, Lori was in the hospital, her team was killed, now the Governor wanted to talk to him? Beyond chance, he knew the two things were linked in some way shape or form.

As he flipped through the magazine he was reading for the fiftieth time, heels clicking on the floor caught his attention, he looked up and felt his face become increasing flushed in both sheer attraction and sheer embarrassment he was reading a bridal magazine.

Approaching the desk was Lori, it had been years since the two were even in the same room, he could tell she was walking with a limp either because she wasn't used to the stiletto heels or because she had sustained a leg injury, but she did look amazing, slight waviness in her blonde locks, a loose necked red top and a black skirt.

Will closed his magazine and checked his phone as he heard Lori's voice to the secretary Jessica.

"Agent Lori Weston to see the Governor?"

"Yes Miss. Weston, I'll let him know you're here." Jessica immediately went to her phone as Lori turned

She smiled and slightly laughed as Bill looked up and smiled in return, it wasn't a 'hey good to see you' kind of smile, but more of a 'hey, we're in the same room so I should be nice' kind of smile.

Bill stood up and fixed his coat "Lori, still looking as beautiful as ever."

Lori shook her head "Still such a flatter Will." She approached and felt her leg about to give

Bill responded by catching her arms and using his weight to keep her up "Guess heels weren't the best idea after the night you've been through huh?"

She immediately let go and sat down "Guess not."

With those words, the pair sat in silence, Bill picked up his magazine as Lori rolled her eyes "I take it they didn't the paper again?"

"Nope." Bill looked down "If you couldn't tell, I've been here awhile."

"I can." She reached into her purse and pulled out the paper "Sports section or should I just give you the comics?"

Bill shook his head "Great, we're bantering. Just the sports."

As he began to read, he kept his face covered reading an article about the Giant's considering their assistant coach's retirement, though he couldn't take his eyes off of Lori, it felt like he was falling in love with her again.

"_Snap out of it Bill, for God's sake, this was the woman who left you the day before the wedding after all."_

"_Yeah, but also think about it, you were with her since high school, and frankly, if Mom didn't try to force things so quickly, she would be Mrs. William Mason right now." _

As Bill was having the internal conflict in his head, he didn't realize he was watching Lori out of the corner of his eye.

Lori glanced up at him "Everything okay?"

Bill shook his head "Yeah, I'm good, just uh….didn't know how to ask you if you were okay or not."

Lori smiled, this one he could tell was sincere, when she smiled like that, there was a slight twinkle in her green eyes "Yeah, doctor's just said I'm going to be a bit disoriented for a bit."

"Agents Mason and Weston, the Governor will see you now."

"Together?" They both asked, looking at each other

"Yes, this way please." Jessica motioned

Bill stood up first and held a hand out, to which Lori swatted away and stood on her own, managing as best as she could, if there was one thing Bill remembered about her was how stubborn she could be.

As they walked in silence, the trip for Lori felt like a life time ago, just a few months ago she was introduced to her team and her mission, a pit feeling entered her stomach as they approached the door.

As it was opened, McKnight turned from his computer and nodded at the pair "Agent Weston, Agent Mason, welcome."

Lori walked in first and shook hands with the Governor and sat down as Bill repeated her action. All three parties sat down, though Bill knew Lori was keeping her distance from him.

"So, first things first, Agent Weston, I'm glad to see you're okay and I'm sorry for the loss of your team."

"Thank you sir." Lori nodded

"So, what the hell happened?"

"Sir, we were called out to a bunker after finding a Bulgarian mercenary running in the woods, he turned himself over to our custody and led us to it and when I stepped outside, the interior was blown up."

"Did you manage to get any information?"

"Everything I found was on my phone, which is now in the hands of the crime analysts."

Bill rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, Lori glared at him as McKnight turned to him "Something you want to say Agent Mason?"

"Sir, we have men dispatched at the scene and are cleaning it up, the source of the explosion wasn't from the mercenary, it was remotely detonated, we found the source of the explosion from a series of explosives lined along the ceiling and painted to match the same roof texture, it was going in a spider web like format around the complex. Four bodies were found one was the mercenary; another was a Jane Doe, and Ben Davidson and Charlie Griffin."

Lori leaned back in her seat, she knew it was her fault they got killed and she felt like Bill had been rubbing sand in the wound.

"So you're saying this is Agent Weston's fault?"

"Not at all sir." Bill retorted "Agent Weston did what was necessary of her, she did her job and she had enough men inside to check the area while she assisted Agent Green."

"Way to make me feel better Bill."

"Oh excuse me Miss Perfect Agent, if you honestly could do this yourself, why did it have to take an explosion and killing two of your men to feel this way?"

"As if it took you proposing to make me feel miserable?" Lori's anger began to rise

"Uh ho, ho, as I seem to recall Lori Weston, you were giddy as a school girl and practically jumping up for joy when I proposed."

"And then look what happened? Your mother got involved.

"Only after your father threatened me with a shotgun." Mason replied aloofly

"Enough!" McKnight yelled "Both of you are giving me a headache with your bickering. So I'm going to tell you why you're here." He took a minute to relax "I had you two working the same case."

"Say what now?" Mason retorted "Sir, we have the Assistant director for the Albany base who gives my team…"

"And did you really think he didn't know what I had planned? He knew about my task force and he knew the case. I simply needed two separate opinions."

Mason's phone began to ring as McKnight spoke up again "So, I think it would it would be for the best if you two worked together."

"Work together?" Lori asked cautiously _Definitely Déjà vu_

His phone continued to ring "I'm sorry, I need to take this." He stood and accepted the call "Agent Mason….yes….yes….right, you're sure? How long ago? Right, I'm going right now." He clicked the call off "Look, as much as I'd love to keep going through this interrogation about personal lives and assignments, I just got a case."

He stood opened the door and walked out, fixing his coat collar as Lori looked at McKnight.

"Sir…?"

"What are you still doing here Agent Weston? You have a case."

Lori sighed "Yes sir."

* * *

Bill opened the trunk of his car looked down, he did carry a few side arms, two assault rifles, a set of Kevlar and a medical kit.

"Bill?"

He looked over to Lori approaching him; he rolled his eyes "Yes Lori?"

"The Governor wants me to help you, so I figure we should talk."

"About what Lori? I'm really not in the mood to talk right now. All I know is, I have a case, you're supposed to work with me and we need to keep what we were, engaged, outside the floor, when we're in privacy, then we can bite each other's heads off."

"Deal. Glad to see you agree."

"Yes, yes." Bill handed her a side arm and slid one into a holster "I'm driving."

Bill walked into the driver's seat as Lori sat in the passenger's seat, he started the engine and immediately merged onto the main road, punching the address into his GPS, now things were going to get interesting.

**Dont worry everyone, I did not give up on this story at all! I wanted to finish Redemption first, and I did, so now Im going to start bringing this back! I appreciate everyone's reviews and Im glad everyone's liking what Im doing with Lori. **

**So stay tuned as I finally have a plot design that I think will be just as good as Redemption!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Case Opens

_Apartment complex_

_Buffalo_

Bill climbed out of the driver's seat with a huff; yellow police tape was placed from the parking lot's border going in a small circle around the front of the apartment complex. Police officers were standing outside as a CSI team began to head inside the building; some officers were speaking with civilians getting statements as Thomas Woods waited for Bill with Lori keeping up close behind.

"Well, well, you clean up good Billy, gonna take me out after this?" Tom joked then saw Lori "Or do you have a hot date already lined up?"

Woods merged over and walked with Bill, his sandy blonde hair was slicked back, his tanned skin tone gave a compliment to his gray eyes, Bill rolled his eyes in response to Frank's comments, the duo had worked together long enough for him to know how to take a joke.

"Agent Thomas Woods this is Agent Lori Weston, homeland security and former head of the Governor's criminal task force."

Both silently shook hands as Bill could see a slight amount of distrust from Woods' face.

"So why is she here? Did McKnight in his meeting?"

"He wants me to assist your team with a case we've been working on the last three months."

"Ah," Tom slapped his hands together "now it makes perfect sense."

_If this made any more sense I would be saying more. _Bill thought in his head "So, what do we have Tom?"

"Around five-thirty this morning neighbors in the apartments heard a lot of loud noise coming from the room on the corner, a group of college kids live there as some off campus housing to attend Buffalo State U, the neighbors poked their heads out and saw a group of three men grab our victim and drag her down the stairs."

"Did they see anything else?"

"Nope, Frederick Fairbanks, who owns the apartment next to Richards, gave chase but when he came to the bottom of the complex the kidnappers were gone."

"Do we have a name of the victim?" Lori spoke up this time

"The eggheads are working on that and police are questioning the roommates."

"Where were they?"

"They were out clubbing all night." Tom sighed "Remember those days Bill? Seems like it was only just yesterday."

"Too much like yesterday." Bill glanced at Lori out of the corner of his eye

* * *

The apartment was in disarray, drawers were pulled out and its contents dumped on the floor, broken glass from frames and furniture was turned over.

"Would you look at this place?" Bill looked around "Looks like a home invasion then a kidnapping."

"The victim apparently put up a fight."

As the CSI team continued to work, one of the members of the NYPD approached the team "Agents, we have an identity."

"What have you got Warren?" Tom asked

"Twenty-two year old Nicole Richards," The officer held up an Ipad and a copy of a young woman, long blonde hair and greenish blue eyes was on the screen "She's a sophomore at Buffalo state."

Bill sighed "Was anything taken?"

"No." The officer looked around "It's funny; they seem to be more interested in her than anything else."

"Parents?"

"Both alive, Paul and Samantha Richards, they live in upstate Buffalo."

"I'll go talk to them." Bill remarked

"Don't think you're going to do this alone Bill." Lori responded

Bill looked over at her "I think I can…"

"It's not up for debate." She snapped

"Fine." Bill sighed once again, completely getting annoyed with Lori's interference "Woods, let the building know Agent Weston is going to need a badge and link up with Bowman and Weaver, see what they can find. Also, make sure the NYPD gets statements on our desk by nightfall tonight." Bill ordered

"You got it boss." Woods replied

As Bill and Lori walked out of the crime scene, Bill could only rub his temples, this was going to give him a headache and the day just started.

* * *

_Richards Home_

_Buffalo_

"I just….just can't believe it."

Bill sat in front of the Richards family with a briefcase beside him while Lori stood to the side, she couldn't why Bill was acting the way he was, avoiding and being down right cruel.

Paul Richards was a stocky man with graying around the front of his black hair, his green eyes was filled with worry, his skin was absolutely pale, while Samantha Richards held her husband's hand, her blonde hair was tied back and her skin tone matched her husbands.

This was the hardest part of Bill's job, having to tell the loved ones of the victim.

"I know this is difficult for you two," Bill said with concern in his voice "But I need to know if either of you two know of anyone who would want to take Nicole?"

Paul looked at him "What do you mean?"

"Well, it can mean a lot of things; your jobs could make you have enemies."

"I…I…don't know…"

"Paul for God's sake." Sarah sighed "Just tell him."

"Tell me what?" Bill asked as Lori got closer

Paul sighed "We had a break in at the house the other night, nothing was taken, but for some reason they seemed interested in Nicole's room, when I found them, the figure jumped out of the window and ran off before I could fire my shotgun."

_Using his second amendments right here to an extreme _"Alright, I'll need a description of the attacker..."

Before Bill finished, Lori spoke up "Do you mind if I look in your daughter's room? See if there is anything they could have been interested in?"

Paul looked at his wife and then at Agent Weston "Of course, go right on ahead."

Nodding with a sincere smile on her face, Lori walked away from the conversation and proceeded up with the stairs, Bill watched her with a perk of interest, even back in the old days back when he first started at the Bureau, Samantha took notice of Bill's shift in his body and his eyes focused on Lori.

"Alright, so did you see anything at all; something that would stand out?"

"No." Paul responded "Though I can say the man is male, about six feet, maybe five foot ten, he wore full black and a ski mask over his head."

"Weapons at all?"

"Uh…" Paul thought for a moment "he used something, it wasn't a hand gun, but it was fired a lot of bullets, like a submachine gun."

William reached for his suitcase and pulled out his surface tablet "Alright, I'm going to show you some pictures, can you remember the gun?"

"Trust me, I could." Paul nodded "The wall in my daughter's room is still marked up."

"Did you call NYPD?" Bill kept his eyes on his tablet

"Yeah, we filed a report, but because no one was hurt and nothing was taken, there was nothing they could do."

Bill nodded "Alright, now just let me know when you see it."

He kept his tablet in his hands and began to flip through the pages, each one Paul would study, each machine gun that came into view he would look at for about a minute or two, and then would shake his head and then Bill would flip the page with a swipe of his left index finger.

This process went on for what felt like ten minutes until Paul's green eyes went wide "There." He pointed to the lower left.

Bill sighed and brought up the picture for himself to look at "An AK-47, it's a miracle you came out of it alive Mister Richards, aimed properly, that thing can kill."

"Yeah, my wife wouldn't let me leave her sight after this happened."

"And you two were alone right? Nicole wasn't here?"

"No, she was out for the night with her friends." Paul looked at him sincerely as tears began to fall "Why would anyone want to take my angel away?"

"I don't know but let me reassure you of something Mister Richards." Bill flipped his tablet and slipped it back in his bag "I'll find who did this, and I will bring her back."

* * *

Lori flipped through the last of Nicole's pictures and placed them back where she found them, it had been over half an hour since she came up to their missing person's room and she felt like she was getting nowhere.

"Well, the parent's identified the attacker as a male, six foot wielding an AK-47."

Lori turned her head to Bill leaning against the door frame; he pulled a set of gloves out and began to look at the door frame, his briefcase in his hands.

"What are you doing?" she asked gently

"According to Paul, the attacker broke into their home, went into our victim's room, before he could go all Rambo on him, the attacker got a few shots out and jumped out the window." Bill let his fingers glaze over the holes in the wall "Looks like the bullets are still in here."

"You think so?"

"I won't know until I manage to get it." Bill opened his briefcase and pulled out a rolled up cloth, he unrolled it and revealed a series of metal tools, which caught Lori's attention and Bill rolled his eyes "When you've been in this business for as long as I have, you can't wait around for the CSI to show up."

Bill removed a set of needle-nose and a small flashlight and proceeded to the wall, he turned the light on and spotted one of the bullets, he took the tweezers and gently applied pressure to the edge of the bullet, he gently pulled it for a few minutes and found it wouldn't budge.

"Damn." Bill sighed

"Want help?"

Bill looked to Lori who took the flashlight from his hand, a smile spread on his face as she held the light in front of it, he always did remember when he and Lori used to work together and this felt like one of those good times.

He applied pressure to the bullet and managed this time to pull it out of the wall with a few crumbs of wall coming out with it.

"Well? Is it what we're looking for?"

Bill looked at the bullet and slipped it into a plastic bag "Don't know, but we'll find out once we get back to base."

**Okay, I told everyone I wasn't going to give up on this and I'm not, I am in love with this story and I promise it will get finished, just needed to think over this story without getting too much into the plot. So for now, enjoy and I will update soon!**


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